The Case of the Noise Pollution (Zootopia)
by Leo the Tiger
Summary: Judy and Nick are assigned to a noise pollution case where music becomes a lethal weapon. Meanwhile, Leodore Lionheart is cleared of all charges and reinstated as mayor, but without the assistance of Bellweather (who is still in prison).
1. Chapter 1: Clearing Lionheart's Name

**The ZPD Files:  
The Case of the Noise Pollution**

* * *

 _Chapter 1:_  
 _Clearing Lionheart's Name_

"Ten-hut!" an officer shouted, and all stood to attention as Chief Bogo entered the briefing room. Unlike other occasions where they began chanting and he'd tell them to shut up, they remained silent as Nick Wilde beat a drum roll on a snare drum. Why would he be doing this? Leodore Lionheart would deliver the answer, and he joined Chief Bogo in saluting back the officers who saluted him, including Judy and Nick (who saluted after ending the drum roll).

"At ease," Chief Bogo began, and the officers relaxed. "You may be seated." They sat down. "That's more like what I want to see when I enter the room. No more of this grunt chanting business. Sorry. I am in a bad mood today just like I am most days. But I have several things on the docker today. First of all, I think you're all used to me saying 'I don't care' when we have a new recruit. But that's gone; I will acknolwedge our new recruit. Say hi to Ringo Rasputin, our first raccoon officer to enter Precinct One."

Ringo waved and the others applauded. "Welcome abord, Ringo," Chief Bogo continued. "That's one. Number two. Why is Nick Wilde playing a drum solo? Well, Lionheart here can fill you in."

"Hello, officers," Lionheart greeted. "I've just been appointed the drum major of the official ZMB, or Zootopia Marching Band. This explains this orange band uniform I am wearing right now. It's how I'm going to balance my life as mayor now that I'm due to be reinstated, and the fact Bellweather isn't there anymore. What a rotten shame she had to go rouge, but apparently, that's politics." Some officers wanted to laugh but just shrugged their shoulders. "Anyways, if any of you play an instrument and wish to join the band, as Wilde here has already done, hence what he did here today, see me in my office, and I'll get arrangements made for you. That's all for now; thanks."

"Thank you, Mayor," the chief continued. "Number three. There may be a connection going here, because as it happens, folks all over Zootopia have been complaining about noise pollution, but it's not coming from those who play their radio in their car too loud. And do take note of this; there was a new noise ordiance passed by Bellweather just before she was arrested. Are you keeping that going, Mayor?"

"I am, yes."

"Okay. It just gets a ticket at first, just as speeding does. Anyways, this noise pollution is not only distracting, but it's dangerous to our health and safety just as the night howlers once were. Thanks to Hopps and Wilde for that one." Some of the officers knuckle-banged the two. "Assignments: Fangmeyer and Rhinowitz, Tundratown SWAT. This has to do with the noise pollution, though." The two got up, saluted, and left for duty. "McHorn, you and your team are going to the Rainforest District to see what you can find." The group got up, saluted, and left. "Jackson, Francine, Delgato, that gives you the investigation assignment of Sahara Square. Dismissed!" The group got up, saluted, and left.

"That leaves you, Hopps and Wilde to investigate here in Precinct One, but first, come see me in my office. You're not in any trouble or anything; I just wish to have your input, so that I can officially clear the mayor's name and get him reinstated."

"How did you get to do that?" Judy asked.

"It was the judge's orders."

"Oh, I see." The four walked over to Bogo's office, although Nick first took time to put his drum away.

"By the way, I'm probably to go volunteer with the bass drum," Bogo said as they entered. "Can I ask what got you to start the marching band, though?"

"I figured it would help bring our morale back up," Lionheart replied. "Music can change one's life, you know, for better or for worse."

"I agree. But back to business. When the press interviewed you, you denied any knowledge of Bellweather's plot. How do we know you were telling the truth? I ask since the press distorts everything."

"I wish they wouldn't do that. But she really did hide everything from me. However, I did imprison the savage prisoners in order to protect the citizens and figure out just what the heck was making them go savage. We weren't getting anywhere, though. Leave it to our top cop here to figure it out."

"Actually, you can thank Gideon Gray for that," Judy spoke up.

"Who's he?"

"A fox from back home in Bunnyburrow. He was once a bully to me when the mindsets of animals were still, 'You can't be anything outside of what you traditionally are.' He had stolen carnival tickets, and I demanded he give them back. Then we got into a fight, and after he beat me up and won it, he said, and I quote, 'I want you to remember this moment the next time you think you will ever be anything more than just a stupid, carrot-farming, dumb bunny!' Then he ran off."

"But did he apologize for that?"

"After I quit and went back home, he did. Now he's the best baker in town."

"Good for him."

"Anyway, after my dad told the other kids not to step in the Midnicampum holicithias, Gideon said, 'There's a four-dollar word; I just call them night howlers."

"And that's what did it," Chief Bogo put in, "isn't it?"

"It is."

"So where do you fit in, Wilde?"

"She reconciled with me, and then we found a train car acting as a lab full of night howlers. And you know the rest; we tried to save it, but the train blew up in a tunnel, even though I saved the evidence. Then Bellweather framed a call to you just as she framed Mr. Lionheart here, trying to blame us. It was all one big prey-supremacist conspiracy, considering 90% of the population is prey, and 10% is predator. Those aren't good odds, are they?"

"No, not really."

"Then you cuff her, the news reveals it's her fault, he denies anything, I become a cop, everybody's happy."

"Indeed." Chief Bogo began working on some of the paperwork the judge had asked him to fill out, and the security cameras were recording the conversation that the news media was allowed to use for future reference (because Lionheart was learning the truth about what Bellweather was doing). In due time, the work was finished, and the next day would see him officially take the mayor's oath that reinstated him (he was at that point wearing his usual suit and tie).

The next day, Nick and Judy dropped by the mayor's office to officially sign up for the band (Nick had already committed, hence the mayor using him and his drum to promote the band at the ZPD), and Judy, having some experience playing the flute, decided that would be her instrument. "Tell us, though," she said as she signed the form, "do you know anything about this noise pollution they speak about?"

"All I know is what I heard, whether it is true or false," Lionheart replied. "In a similar manner to the way that Bellweather hired those thugs to inject the night howler poison into them, somebody's been injecting what he or she calls 'music poison' into them. Everywhere they go, one can audibly hear music that they don't want to hear without the aid of a loudspeaker. If somebody doesn't like rock, they hear rock. If somebody doesn't like rap or hip-hop, that's what they hear. The one's infected also randomly break into a song of that genre, and they suddenly dress like somebody would dress."

"What would that be for you?"

"I'm not one that's cared much for music, but I do realize the importance of it in society, and my father was a musician. That's what I formed the marching band. I'd probably be doing rap and hop-hop if I was injected. Hopefully not." Lionheart paused to clear his throat. "It becomes hazardous to their health because it has the types of effects you'd expect from doing drugs or drinking too much booze. I don't do either one."

"Neither do we."

"Good to hear. Anyways, if you're looking for a better place to search than here, I'd start at the Natural History Museum. The very first citizen to get injected came from there. His performances are spreading some sort of disease, according to witnesses."

"Disease?" Nick spoke up.

"You know, the usual fever, flu, coughing symptoms? Gazelle is worried she's going to go out of business because of this; folks are getting sick from her performances when the victims suddenly start singing her songs. At her last concert, nobody turned up!"

"How sad," Judy exclaimed. "I like her!"

"You wouldn't if you were infected by the poison."

"I'll bear that in mind. Thanks for your help, though."

"Not a problem." The two got up and left, and walked out of City Hall just as Chief Bogo was walking in, as he was turning in his form to signify he was to play bass drum in the ZPD. They briefly mentioned to him about what Lionheart told them, and Lionheart subsequently gave some input to the chief about the case, with the chief taking notes.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _Zootopia © Disney_


	2. Chapter 2: The Investigation Begins

_Chapter 2:  
The Investigation Begins_

Having been advised to start looking at the Natural History Museum, Judy and Nick walked in through the front entrance and up to the desk where visitors would pay for admission normally. "Here to see the sights, officers?" the panda working the desk asked.

"Well, yes and no," Judy replied. "We came here via the mayor's advice. He says there's a music virus going around, almost identical to when the night howlers made the predators go savage. Those were flowers, by the way."

"I wondered about that. Well, feel free to look around, then." The panda sent an e-mail notice to the rest of the staff that the ZPD had arrived and was working on a criminal investigation, so they shouldn't be charged for anything. The staff replied back and said they'd do that for the officers.

"Can you tell us anything?" Nick asked the panda as Judy walked around for a bit, looking for clues.

"There was a strange incident last night, yes. It was pitch black because of a power outage that got fixed just ten minutes before we opened up the place this morning. Thank goodness. So our cameras didn't see anything. All we heard was a continuous loop of that one piece of art music (classical music); I believe it's called 'Sabre Dance.' One of the security guards called in sick with the flu today. It had to be him. He said he suddenly felt the urge to conduct the orchestra that wasn't there."

"Then this is more serious than I thought."

"Yes, it is. He then said that he had trouble sleeping, because every so often, he'd start conducting again. He also found himself wearing a fancy tuxedo."

"That's what the mayor said the virus does."

"I'll bear that in mind."

"What music does he like? Usually the music you get involved in is music you don't care for?"

"He normally listens to pop."

"I see. Thanks for your help." Nick left to catch up to Judy and reported to her all the words of this entire revelation. Then he began to observe all that was around him, overhearing somebody mention something about damage. When he asked the coyote who mentioned it about it, the coyote replied, "I work one of the stands here that sells frappuccinos and such. Want one?"

"No, thanks; not right now," Nick replied. "What did you say about damage, though?"

"As I was closing up the stand, I suddenly heard music and I suddenly started to feel dizzy. I saw it was one of the security guards going nuts, because he was suddenly wearing a tuxedo and conducting an imaginary orchestra. Yet the music was clearly heard, bright as day, plain as the nose on my face! Clear as a bell!"

"What was the piece of music?" Judy asked.

"I think it's called 'Sabre Dance.'"

The prehistoric exhibit turned out to be the one that was damaged, and it was right near the very stand the coyote was operating. The pair hadn't had time to look when the music suddenly started. "That's the song!" said the coyote.

"So it is," Judy commented. "Who doesn't know that number? But where's it coming from?"

"It's coming from behind that dinosaur exhibit," Nick replied, and the pair ran to look. Sure enough, there was music playing, but instead of conducting as the security guard did, the flying squirrel in question was flying around like an airplane, and when Judy and Nick tried to catch him, he was impossible to grab.

"I can't reach him, Carrots," the fox grunted. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe if we can get him to fly outside and over to the ZPD, we can contain him in one of the lab zones."

"Let's try that." The ZPD had installed new "lab zones" modeled after the rooms that Lionheart and the scientist had used to contain the predators that had once gone savage, and had consulted with the mayor on the subject. Judy's idea also came from the fact that the flying squirrel had spotted them and tried to go after them as if he was a guided missile working to blow them up.

"Run!" the two shouted, for this very flying squirrel whom they suddenly recognized, an ex-band robber by the name of Squatts Jonesby, had once been arrested before (which happened on the same day Judy and Nick pulled Flash over for going 115 in a 45-MPH zone), and he managed to claw Nick in the face for revenge. (Nick had sold him a defective wig that was allegedly guaranteed to work.)

The two jumped in their squad car and shut the door as the music continued to play. It released another clue for the duo: when around the victim of the poison, if the music was playing in a continuous loop as it was in this instance, the animals heard it as long as they were around the victim. But when he/she was gone, the public heard the song and heard its natural ending. The visitors all had ducked and dodged the squirrel, and they waited for the song to end. It's also worth noting that the squirrel did try to get inside the squad car so he could claw at Judy and Nick, but fortunately, they had shut the doors in time. When Judy started the engine, she noticed how Mr. Jonesby continued to fly around the car.

By the time the quick-thinking rabbit and always-as-ever clever fox had returned to the ZPD, Chief Bogo had walked out to see what all the racket was. "Watch out, Chief!" Nick called.

"What the heck?" Chief Bogo exclaimed as the whole ZPD suddenly heard "Sabre Dance" in a loop. "Whatever that music is, it's good, but it's not my taste," Clawhauser spoke up as he ducked. "I like Gazelle better."

"So do I," said Judy, "but she's not the problem here."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Sound the alarm and get him into one of the ZPD lab zones."

"Got it." Clawhauser did so, and any other police officers who happened to be in the building helped out with leading the squirrel into the appropriate zone, and Chief Bogo promptly slammed the door shut. When Jonesby hit the door, he suddenly stopped, and the music stopped at its natural ending.

"Whew; that was close," Chief Bogo gasped. "Way to go, Hopps. You too, Wilde."

"No problem, Chief," Judy replied. The other officers all paused to get their breath back before resuming their own duties.

"What was he doing?"

"We found him at the Natural History Museum just as Lionheart had guessed. As that music was playing, he was flying around like an airplane looking for somebody to attack, and next thing Nick and I knew, he was attacking us. He tried to go after Nick more so than me, although he recognized us from the bank robbery we arrested him for, since he clawed Nick in the face that day."

"What for, Wilde?"

"Revenge on me from my con artist days. I sold him a wig I said was guaranteed to work, but the wig turned out to be a defective wig."

"Oh. That's not as bad as the skunk-butt rug."

"No. I'd rather not discuss that."

"Duly noted. Tell me this, though; do you know when it started?"

"Well, we did hear a clock chime in the background." (The museum's clock had struck 10 a.m. at that point.)

"Maybe that's a clue, but we don't know for sure. Might be worth notifying me if it happens again, though."

"Will do."

"Meanwhile, I'm getting reports from the train station of similar things happening. Can you go check there?"

"We're on it, Chief," Judy nodded. "Sorry we didn't notify you fast enough. I actually tried to contact somebody on the way back, though."

"Clawhauser must have been using his phone again; that overweight donut-lover! He had better not do that again! If you do catch another thief in a similar manner, though, contact us. Contact me directly if you have to; there's a new feature that lets you do that. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier; I was sort of in a hurry with another appointment."

"That's all right." The three walked back out to the squad car, and Bogo briefly demonstrated which button buzzed him directly in his office. Clawhauser happened to walk by his office, looking for him, and wondered what the buzzing sound was. Bogo would give him the memo in due time.

"That way you're not distracted," he concluded. "One more incident like that and I'm searching for a new dispatcher! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir; very clear, sir," Clawhauser gulped.

"You and your donuts!"

"Sorry." Clawhauser sat back down at his desk and turned his phone off. Meanwhile, Judy and Nick headed for Savannah Train Station.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _Zootopia © Disney_


	3. Chapter 3: The Train Wreck

_Chapter 3:  
The Train Wreck_

Judy and Nick arrived at Savannah Train Station only to find out one of the trains had crashed. Immediately they took note that one of the trains had been ransacked, and the way it crashed was very similar to the train that crashed when the pair had driven it to escape Bellweather's henchmen. The difference was that this train didn't explode like the other one did, and the company was losing money by the second just trying to deliver these trains and their replacements on time.

"While there were a few injuries, nobody was killed," the conductor had told the press, "so we are very fortunate."

It then occurred to Judy that she seemed to almost rise to a celebrity status, because the press wanted to shoot pictures of her every chance they got. Nick, not so much, but he didn't seem to mind. "Hey, she's the one who wanted it so badly," he said when a reporter spoke to him. "She earned it, and so she deserves it. Me? I never anticipated being a cop, but it sure beats being a con artist."

"Why did you become one?" the reporter asked. "It might be irrelevant, but we're archiving our history at the same time."

"I see." Nick proceeded to briefly tell the same story he told Judy about how he wanted to be a scout, but got beaten up and ridiculed because he was a fox. "Yes, I did serve my time for tax evasion, and Judy, of all officers, was the one who made the arrest," he concluded. "But I did it because I figured that if a fox was not going to be seen as anything else but untrustworthy, sneaky, and underhanded, there's no point in becoming anything else?"

"Do you plan to sell those popsicles in a legal manner?"

"If I can figure out how to balance it with my police career, yes. Meanwhile, let me not get distracted anymore, and let's look at the wreckage here."

The EMTs were busy unloading the injured passengers into their ambulances and taking them to the hospital. The rest of the passengers came out unscathed, but out of breath, dizzy, and gasping for air. To Judy's shock, out stepped Gazelle! Even though fans wanted to swarm her for autographs, the ZPD told them to back off and at least let her catch her breath. She did so, and then she got enough energy back to sign some autographs for some of her fans. She offered one to Judy as a sign of gratitude for clearing up the whole night howler mystery as well.

"Thanks," Judy smiled as she got the autograph. She stepped to the side so others could get an autograph. "Tell me, though. What happened on the train?"

"I was coming back from a performance somewhere else," Gazelle replied, "when suddenly I heard what sounded like a taser. Next thing I knew, there was a sheep who let out a cry of agony. Then she suddenly started singing one of my songs, and jumping around in the process. The others tried to restrain her, but she was too jumpy and too powerful for them. She jumped around so much, it ultimately made the train go off the tracks. It didn't crash until she finished the song, though. She not only got it right, word for word; she nailed the impression of me."

"I wonder if she's a weightlifter?" Nick commented. "She had to have some strength, whether natural or in a sudden burst, if she jumped enough to make the train come off the tracks."

Having gone to the scene himself, Chief Bogo told the reporters, "We're not pressing charges on that sheep. I'm more concerned about her health and safety."

At the hospital, the quartet (Judy, Nick, Chief Bogo, and Gazelle) got to talk to the sheep. "The reports we heard said the victim always does a genre of music they don't care for, but do you like Gazelle's music?" Judy asked.

"I don't mind it at all, although my personal preference is art (classical) music," said the sheep, now able to speak again.

"That doesn't fit the criteria we heard," Nick put in. "It must be variations on a theme, for lack of a better way to put it."

"Sounds like it," said Bogo. "Now the victims are doing this whether they like the genre or hate." He turned to the sheep and said, "In your case, it's not your taste, but you don't despise it either."

"Exactly," said the sheep.

"Not only did you get the song word for word," Gazelle added, "but you nailed the impression of me. I think you did me better than I did me, and that's pretty creepy."

"Did I?"

"You did."

"Whoa."

"This virus is worse than I thought," Judy put in. "One more question. What time was it when the music started?"

"11:00 a.m. sharp," Gazelle replied. "Why do you ask?"

"That's another clue," Chief Bogo spoke up. "Every call I get coming into my office, irritating as they are given how many there are, always mentions how the clock strikes something - in this case, 11 - and then the music starts. The clock struck 11."

"Maybe everybody should wear earplugs," Nick commented, "so that they won't hear the clock strike whatever."

"My brother tried that; it didn't work," said the sheep. "He still heard the clock strike that time. Luckily he wasn't affected."

"Well, all we can do is let you heal from this injury, and pray it doesn't happen to you again."

"Thanks for your time, though. I don't care if you are prey or predator; I'm thankful that you are police officers who serve and protect."

"Well, thank you; what a nice compliment," Judy smiled as the four waved and left.

The next few days proved to be very stressful for the ZPD. A coyote was brought into the lab zones from Tundratown after singing rat pack music; a buffalo was brought in for disrupting a quiet restaurant setting with a heavy metal performance (complete with a guitar that seemingly came out of nowhere), and a kangaroo upset his family when he started suddenly singing rap and hip/hop songs that had obscene language in it. It disrupted Mayor Lionheart's scheduled photo op shoot, in which he'd promote the Zootopia Marching Band by parading around playing a bass drum himself, with the paw print logo to used to represent the band imprinted on the drum.

"I can't go out there!" he exclaimed. "What if this isn't solved by the time we have our first parade, and we get interrupted by somebody doing dubstep? It's my worst nightmare!"

"I'm sorry, Mayor, but it's now or never," said a publicist helping to promote the band.

"If you say so." The mayor grudingly went to put his uniform on, equip the bass drum, and proceed as planned. The ZPD sent extra security to go with him so he could do the photo shoot without any disruptions. Luckily for him, everything went as planned, and there were no disruptions. Still, he wasn't able to complete the process without worrying about it.

Yet he couldn't have finished it in due time, because the clock eventually struck noon, and he promptly ran back inside City Hall to hide. Then everybody suddenly heard synthesizers playing, and a group of gerbils broke into an 80s electronic number. Their dance moves led to a hippo driver having to slam on the brakes to avoid running them over, and another driver had to slam on his brakes to prevent a wreck. It turns out there was no wreck, but the drivers were still upset. They'd later tell the police they were more bothered by the gerbils getting poisoned than the fact they almost crashed.

Soon all of Zootopia was plagued by fear again, but this time, both predators and prey were worried for one another. What was going to be the vital piece of evidence? What was the purpose of this music virus? And what's more, whose idea was it?

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _Zootopia © Disney_


	4. Chapter 4: Further Complications

_Chapter 4:_  
 _Further Complications Lead to Evidence_

"This is getting very confusing," Chief Bogo lamented as his top two recruits entered the office with a report the next day, concerning the kangaroo that sang the rap song with the profane language. "Soon the whole city's going to turn into one large musical where everybody assumes you can sing a special song and all your wishes will magically come true. Well, life doesn't work that way; you know this."

"Yes, we do," said Judy. "But the clues we haven't found yet are who is doing this and what they're using to do it."

"Until those are discovered, we're at a dead end," Nick echoed.

"Dead end? Hmmm." Chief Bogo thought for a moment, and said, "Come to think of it, there was another report I got five minutes earlier coming from a dead end street."

"Who and what was involved?"

"Whoever called me didn't tell me their name or any other information; they just said they caught a scene on camera of a rhinocerous doing a soul/R&B number, and he normally listens to meditation music. But he likes music of all types. This is another confirmation that whether you like the music or hate it, you sing it."

"Do we know if somebody falls ill?" Judy asked. "That one sheep only got hurt because she was in the train when it crashed."

"I don't know of any aftermath effects the poison has yet, but it is a poison becaus every time the clock strikes whatever it strikes, it starts. If anybody such as myself didn't believe in the supernatural before, we do now, because you can physically hear the music that accompanies one who sings."

Just then, the clock struck 9 a.m., and suddenly, the music started up again. "Oh? There's another one!" the chief exclaimed.

"We're on it!" Judy called as the duo left to run to their squad car.

"I'm coming with you as part of the investigation," Chief Bogo replied, "but I'm driving my own car. Go to it!" Other officers ran to their own cars as what seemed like the entire ZPD began to head to the scene. When they got there, there was a lion who had been poisoned, whose close friends knew him to be a sophiscated lion that normally wore a business suit and tie. All of a sudden, he was in heavy metal clothing and doing an epic solo. "THANK YOU, ZOOTOPIA!" he screamed he was finished, raising his hands and doing the heavy metal horns sign. To humor him, everybody gave him a round of applause.

About 15 seconds later, the lion suddenly changed back to his suit and tie, and his guitar disappeared. "That was what I meant when I said I believe in the supernatural," said Chief Bogo.

"Wh...wh...wha...whoa! What happened?" the lion asked. "I'm late for work, and now I'm really going to be late for work. Good thing I told the boss the train I was taking had a breakdown. They fixed it, though."

"Johnson? Was that you?!" the boss, a goat, called as he came rushing down. He'd normally be steamed since he detested tardiness just as Chief Bogo did. But here, he was worried. "That was some epic solo you just performed! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, boss," Johnson replied. "I don't know what happened to me or what hit me. I knew I had been stung by something because I felt it hit my back. Next thing I knew, there I was, imitating a heavy metal rocker, and my audience was full of these cops."

"Do you actually play electric guitar?" Nick asked.

"No, I don't. Why?"

"We're working on the case." The police went into further details about this, and the goat made the comment, "It's a fact I despise tardiness almost as much as you do, Chief, but I'm going to let him go on this occasion. Tell me something, though; will it happen again?"

"Only if he's outdoors," Chief Bogo replied. "We do know now from further lab investigations that being indoors makes you temporarily immune. But once outdoors, and we all must do things outdoors every day, nobody is safe."

"Then I'm ordering sub sandwich boxes to cater our next meeting. Good thing it was today."

"Yes."

"How did I magically change clothes?" Johnson asked.

"That's part of the poison," said Judy. "As long as you are outdoors, and there's a clock somewhere that strikes chimes on the hour, it happens to you. It doesn't necessarily do the same thing every time, though. It just picks a song at random."

"And I don't even like heavy metal that much."

"What do you listen to?"

"I usually listen to jazz."

"Good stuff there."

"Yeah. Sorry for the disturbance, though."

"That's all right. We're just glad you're okay and still able to do your job."

"Thanks." Johnson and the boss walked back inside the building, and the two continued to talk as the lion sat down at his desk.

The police resumed looking for clues at that point, when Nick suddenly came across a dart. "Hey; look at this," he called. "It looks like a dart you throw at a dartboard, but it doesn't have the pointy tip."

"Hey," said Jackson, one of the other officers. "I think I've seen that before!"

The chief knelt down to take a look at it. He checked it with a scanning device against the notes he had taken from previous reports. The reports had all said that a purple dart, which was the dart here, had been shot at the victims, but silencers were all used, because no reports of any gunshots were sent to the ZPD. Instead, everybody just broke out into song, and television executives and record producers were working overtime hoping to hire some of these victims. They later told the press, "Even if there's a cure, we still want them. They've got potential!"

"I still want this sent to the lab," Chief Bogo ordered, "but if my hunch is correct, there is a link here." He turned to Nick and Judy and said, "Hopps, Wilde, to the lab. I'll meet you there!"

"Got it, Chief," Judy replied as the as the officers headed back to ZPD H.Q., where later on, the lab technicians would get promptly to work on examining the dart, for out of the dart came a very strange thing: purple water. Was this a new clue? What did it all mean? And just what was going to become of any further citizens?

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _Zootopia_ _© Disney_


	5. Chapter 5: Examining the Dart

_Chapter 5:_  
 _Examining the Dart_

"How's the analysis on that dart coming?" Chief Bogo asked his chief technician, Hurriet.

"Almost...done...here, Chief," Hurriet replied, as only a sloth with do. "New...studies...show...this...dart...was filled...with...musical poison."

Judy, irritated as ever with the slow pace that these sloths would speak of, went ahead and asked, "Okay. Do we know where it came from? Do we know anything about the culprit?"

"Fingerprints...were found...on the...weapon. Prints known...to be...of...criminals...Chuckles..., Dino..., and Dribs. I thought...they...were...in jail."

"Well, Chuckles and Dribs are somewhere out there," Chief Bogo replied. "Remember? Neil, one of our very own, let him out because he was depressed he wasn't promoted. It's like I tell all my recruits: even you must obey the laws you enforce."

"Who...did he...let out?"

"Oh, sorry. He let Chuckles out."

"Oh."

"At least now we've narrowed it down to three possibilites," Nick put in. "If all three aren't working this operation as a supervillain team-up, if you will, then it can only be one of the three."

"What if it's none of the above?" Judy asked.

"I don't know," Chief Bogo replied, shaking his head. "I don't think it's Bellweather; she's still in jail. And so she should be."

"Where do you reckon we ought to start searching, then?"

"Check with Clawhauser; he's got the latest." Chief Bogo walked back to his office to figure out what to do next. Judy and Nick walked over to Clawhauser's desk near the entrance. Naturally, he had his donuts and coffee with him, but he was putting hand sanitizer on his hands when he saw the pair coming, so as not to get any donut glaze on the documents he was to hand them.

"Here you go," he said. "These will tell you where the culprits are going."

"Thanks," said Judy. "And thanks for not getting donut glaze on them this time."

"Not a problem." The pair left to find their squad car and start the next part of their duty. Clawhauser then replied to a seperate report of a different criminal (a motorcyclist speeding) and sent backup for that duty.

Chuckles was the first culprit the pair talked to, and they found him shopping at a department store. The wolverine had many criminal acts before, such as his role in the Sequoia Towers Project by damaging the Natural History Museum, ransacking the ZPD itself, his plot to take over the Naturist Club, jamming wi-fi signals, and sabotaging the Mammal Electronics Show. "What do you know about this music poison?" Judy asked.

"Nothing you don't," Chuckles replied. "It did happen to me, however; I was outside about to walk in here, when I suddenly started singing rat pack songs. I don't even listen to that stuff. I prefer opera."

"Do you remember getting hit by a dart like this?" Nick spoke up, holding up the purple dart he was allowed to use.

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Everybody who gets hit by one of these, the reports we have gotten tell us, are the ones who start singing whenever the clock strikes anything from 1 to 12."

"It was 10:00 a.m. when I started to sing."

"What song were you singing?"

"I think it's called 'Pennies from Heaven.'"

"That's a jazz number, yes."

"I can't talk to you anymore; I have shopping to finish. Let's just say I'm buying a gift for somebody special."

"Okay. Thanks for your help, though."

"No problem." The wolverine left to continue his shopping spree, and the duo were tempted to think it was him straight away. But they knew they had to talk to everybody. Later security camera footage from outside the store did indeed show Chuckles doing his jazz performance, but there was no sign of him getting hit. The security copied the footage onto a DVD and sent it to the ZPD.

Dribs, previously the mastermind behind the whole flooding of Zootopia and the other crook involved in the Sequoia Towers project, was known for his insanity and confessing to doing crimes. And make no mistake; he was the true mastermind. But here, he seemed to be hostile towards the pair. "Yeah? So what if I did it?" he sneered when they spoke to him at an intersection where the traffic lights were flashing red and yellow, and a jaguar officer was directing the traffic so it could go around a wreck without causing any further damage. "You can't prove it!"

"No, but you're in the firing line," said Judy. "Your fingerprints were found on one of the dart guns used to shoot music poison at the victims. Apparently, Chuckles was one of them, even though we also found his fingerprints on the gun."

"That doesn't mean anything! I don't even like music!"

"Then why would you participate in such a thing?"

"To make everybody else hate it! Duh!"

"I don't think that's what's happening," Nick spoke up. "Folks actually enjoy these flash mobs, even though the ones who do them have damaged health."

"Serves them right!"

"It serves them right?"

"Goodbye, stupid!" Dribs ran off to go home.

"Well, that lead led nowhere," Judy groaned, shaking her head.

"Or did it?" said Nick.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the footage?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Tell you back at the lab."

"Okay."

"Also, look what I found." Nick held up what looked like a dart gun.

"Where'd you find that?"

"The front entrance."

"Clever fox!"

"Smart bunny. I'm not willing to say 'dumb bunny' anymore, because you aren't."

Back at the ZPD lab, the group watched the footage in slow motion. "All I don't know is where he got the skateboard," Nick concluded after the footage showed Chuckles about to walk in to the store, when suddenly somebody using a rocket-powered skateboard zoomed on by. Soon Chuckles began singing. The footage didn't show any signs of a dart, though, considering it only caught one angle.

"There's always the possibility he was faking it to throw us off," Chief Bogo commented. "But we'll know it was genuine if he sings once again. What did Dribs say, though?"

"When we asked him why he would participate in such a thing, he denied it at first," Judy replied, "and then he said, 'I did it to make everybody else hate it!' Maybe he hates music. If that's the truth, and he was involved in the formula, he got it all wrong. Instead of hating the music, the population loves it."

"But if they always happen outside, that doesn't explain the train wreck."

"Actually, it does," a voice came from afar. The officers all turned to see Gazelle enter. "Hi, everybody; sorry for dropping in unannounced. But that same sheep that did the impression of me is healing now, and she said the windows of the train were open, and the clock struck 11. That's how she did the performance inside the train."

"That's helpful info," said Chief Bogo. "But did you see any signs of this weapon here?"

"No, I didn't see any darts or a dart gun."

"Somebody had to have been carrying one. Otherwise, the sheep would not have done the impression of you."

"Is that right?"

"It is."

Later, when the officers spoke with Dino, still in prison for his pack rat act of buying things with a stolen credit card, he said, "I do remember them asking me to test the dart gun, because the other two who came by earlier were Dribs and Chuckles. But I didn't hit anybody. Then one of them hit me, and I broke into a vaudeville song after the clock struck 2. But if this only happens outdoors, it had to be a recording. These windows may be clear, but they don't open."

"How long have you been in here?" Nick asked.

"About three months since you arrested me, and I signed all your CDs."

"For a pack rat, you sure are observant of surroundings," Chief Bogo put in. "It's only fair to say, therefore, that whoever had the credit card you stole is out of debt. They were in debt, but they figured out how to get out of it."

"Good for them."

As the lab went to work analyzing the dart gun, its workers were able to analyze the poison itself for the first time. They did this by removing the darts and pouring the poison into glass beakers, and then placing them on a stand that was defined by the ignorant public as "the device that turns water different colors." It was only a matter of time before any more narrowing down was possible, but the jail's security camera footage did show that Dino got hit, although it didn't show who shot the dart. But it was accurate to say that the police could rule out Dino; his fingerprints were only on the gun and the darts because the other two suspects (Chuckles and Dribs) only used him to help test the gun.

All the while, Lionheart continued rehearsing the rudimental snare drum solo "Drum Corps on Parade" to promote the Zootopia Marching Band, which was filmed and uploaded to the internet, so he was in uniform. He couldn't do the solo, however, without worrying about the safety of his citizens and the officers. But he got through it, and he confidently was able to salute at the end of the solo.

The next day, the ZPD resumed work on the two suspects remaining.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _Zootopia © Disney; the game_ _ **Zootopia Crime Files**_ _is referenced as well._


	6. Chapter 6: Capturing the Suspect

_Chapter 6:  
Capturing the Suspect_

The next morning, the clock struck nine, and a whole group of animals broke into a classic 60s R&B/soul number. While the song normally faded out, it had a natural ending since there were live performers. To humor the victims, all of whom were on their way to work, the people applauded, and the bosses forgave them all.

"What's the name of that one?" Judy asked Nick as they drove their squad car around.

"I don't know that song," Nick replied. "But it's defintely from a different era in music."

"What I can't understand is why Dribs would deny something like this and then confess to doing it."

"Well, he is insane. Perhaps he just wants attention. Or, it's just impossible to explain his mindset."

"Either way, my hunch is telling me he did it."

"As is mine, Carrots. But we don't know that for certain."

Just then, a familiar looking rocket-powered skateboard passed by at blazing speed. The citizens ran to get out of the way, and some let out a scream. "Hey! Did you see that?" Judy exclaimed.

"After him!" Nick called, and the duo turned their sirens on and began chasing after the culprit.

The chase was like any typical police high-speed chase. The culprit kept trying to outrun the cops, but they were right on his tail. The news networks such as ZNN (Zootopia News Network) took the liberty of using their helicopters to catch every minute of the chase. What nobody was expecting, however, was where exactly he was going. But everybody was there to watch every minute of it. Clawhauser kept his eyes on the TV closest to his desk, so that he could send for backup if necessary, and Chief Bogo livestreamed the chase off the network's website ( .com). "Get 'em, Hopps! Get 'em, Wilde!" he cheered. "I'm never doubting you two again!" Eventually the duo asked for backup, and Clawhauser signaled for it. Chief Bogo echoed the order, and eventually got in his own car, with McElhorn riding shotgun (since the luck of the draw determined that).

Ultimately the chase took all the officers to the Rainforest District. Mr. Manchas worryingly opened his door to see what all the fuss was about, and he previously had been musically poisoned. The officers all got out and took turns to shout phrases such as "FREEZE! ZPD police officers!" when the culprit's skateboard ran out of rocket fuel. The culprit got a bit dizzy from the chase, and he fell off his skateboard, but not before he managed to put the trigger on his own dart gun that he was carrying (Clawhauser spotted he had a dart gun from the news footage), and the dart manage to hit Nick in the back!

"YEOWCH!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, no; he poisoned Nick!" Judy exclaimed. She briefly went to pull the dart out.

"That he did by accident," said Jackson, "but I'm sure he would have done it anyway."

"I never thought I'd be poisoned," Nick added, "but I don't feel sick or healthy. I just feel a song coming on." In the distance, a clock struck ten, and Nick suddenly appeared in the appropriate clothing as he broke into a gangsta rap song. Mr. Manchas came out to watch as Chief Bogo walked over to him. "Sorry about that," he apologized, "but the crook just poisoned one of my best officers."

"I just wish I wasn't out here," Manchas replied as the spell got to him again, and soon he was in the appropriate clothing from the magical transformation that occurred. He joined in with Nick's rap, and the two went back and forth. The song went on for about five minutes before the two finished, and transformed into their own clothes again. To be polite, everybody applauded upon the song's end.

Nick, however, started to suffer a headache. "Is getting a headache normal?" he asked Manchas. "You were singing with me there."

"I have had headaches after this happens," Manchas replied, "but I don't think this happens to everybody."

"It didn't happen to anybody we've talked to so far," Judy put in as she checked the vital signs. "It happened for the first time."

By the time the culprit regained consciousness, everybody couldn't do anything but moan and groan. "Idiots!" he screamed. "You stupid blues ruin everything!"

"You're still under arrest, Dribs," Chief Bogo spoke up, "for threatening the city with musical poison and for using an unauthorized rocket skateboard."

"Yeah! So! Whatever! You got me! I did it! I did it, okay? Just kill me!"

"You're not going to die," Judy replied. "You're living to see the consequences of your actions. It's bad enough you flooded the whole town to open Sequoia Towers."

"I confess I did it, but the poison was supposed to make everybody boo, hiss, and ultimately call for the end of music."

"Because you hate music?"

"I hate it! You hear me? I hate it! I don't have to tell you why I hate it; I just hate it! Ever since I got smashed and trampled underfoot in a circus parade accident, I've hated the world of music, you hear?"

"Well, you're going to continue hating it, because no society can exist without it," Nick chimed in. "We know this. Also, you have the right to remain silent; should you sacrifice that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He turned to Judy and said, "I have always wanted to say that!"

"And now you've said it!" Judy winked back, getting some laughs. She turned back to Dribs and said, "And now I say to you the next line: if you can't pay for an attorney, one will be provided to you free of charge. However, I want to ask this: how do you know the formula backfired if it was actually supposed to make everybody hate it?"

"I didn't. How do you know they like it?"

"Every record company in Zootopia is trying to get these people to sign a contract, even for just one single or album."

"Wow."

"Was Chuckles in with you on the plot?"

"He was at first, but he said it would destroy his posh image, so he broke off ties. I punished him by poisoning him at the mall department store."

"So that was you."

"Yes."

"Did you poison Dino?"

"No; he just helped me test it."

Back at the ZPD, as Dribs was put in jail, Chuckles was the first to receive the poison antidote the lab technicians had worked tireless on for days, and Chief Bogo played a recording of a clock striking, at a volume so only Chuckles could hear it. When silence reigned, he said, "I never thought I'd be saying thank you to you officers, but you and your lab technicians did it! I'm cured!"

"And soon the whole city will be cured."

"Indeed."

Soon, Chief Bogo called ZNN and informed them of what happened, and the anchors went ahead and advertised that the ZPD found the cure for the antidote. Not long afterwards was a huge line of animals forming, and the ZPD worked all night to cure all citizens of the antidote. Anybody who still sang when the clock struck seemed to be singing choral works or works of the novelty genre for large groups to sing. The technicians went ahead and cured Nick first so that he could resume duty, although by the time he was off duty, Mayor Lionheart invited him to his house for some news update, and some rehearsing of drum cadences, since the case had been closed just in time for the big parade. It was also revealed that Gazelle and her tiger dancers (complete with their infamous glittery pants) would be on a float to mark the holiday the parade was used for: Mammal Appreciation Day. All in all, it was going to be fun.

All the while, the record companies were still hoping to do a collective album.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	7. Chapter 7: The Parade

_Chapter 7:  
The Parade_

The next day was full of sunshine, smiles, and high spirits; it was the Mammal Appreciation Day. Most of the features had to do with the floats involved, one of which had Gazelle and her dancers involved. But the main feature was the Zootopia Marching Band that Lionheart had promise, of which he himself was leading the way as drum major. As to be expected, the public saw Judy playing flute, Nick playing a snare drum, Chief Bogo playing a bass drum, and other animals playing instruments to be expected. Lionheart first waited to confirm there was no poison attacks before he gave the orders to march. Gazelle's dancers also appeared wearing only their infamous glittery shorts (at least critics said it was infamous).

The only surprise was the fact nobody thought Clawhauser would participate due to being so obese, given all the food and media he indulged in. But there he was, crashing the cymbals when necessary. As one jouranlist who later got sued by City Hall for libel would write, "It's one of the rare times we've seen Lionheart do anything that isn't controversial; we know he put more effort into winning elections than actually concentrating on his duty as Mayor." The libel lawsuit came from saying it was a rarity, because previously Bellweather was his deputy, and the two worked together (although there may have been the chance that she did all the paperwork while he did all the talking and took the credit; either way, he seemed to have got his act together).

The marching band was getting the loudest applause, but it wasn't surprising to anybody that was it the fact they were the ones leading the whole thing. It inspired the ones who made the app where one could superimpose their face over the face of one of Gazelle's dancers (and hear her subsequently say, "Wow, you're a really hot dancer, [insert name]."). They then experimented with the same type of thing for this marching band, but the voiceover was Lionheart saying, "Wow; you have a natural knack and instinct when it comes to marching." The user could choose his instrument.

To Judy's surprise, her mom, dad, and 275 siblings all came to see her perform. They tried to cheer and wave when she passed by, knowing she had to concentrate on her music. Still, she got a moment in between songs to wave slightly.

The parade lasted the route down the main streets, around the ZPD, other parts of Precinct One, and eventually to one of the city parks. The band took the liberty of playing a few more songs to conclude the festivities, ending naturally with the national anthem, while the floats simply came to a stop, allowing the public to take a close-up look. The tiger dancers exchanged salutes with Lionheart, while the floats that came after Gazelle's float, ranging from a skunk float to a pig, from a woodchuck to a squirrel, from an elephant to a mouse, from cats to dogs, from coyote to wolf, and others. All the mammal types were represented. Nobody had been left out, prey or predator.

Later that day, since the record companies wanted contracts from the singers that sang because they were poisoned, they decided to hold open auditions. Understandlingly, Nick didn't participate since he wanted to focus on his police duties. Interestingly, many of the victims actually could sing beautifully, and were promising up and coming acts. They had to bear in mind, though, that while record contracts could mean good money, reasonable royalty rates, and financing tours, they couldn't get out of a contract, and the record company could try to manipulate them. In the end, the ones who didn't sign were the ones who chose to keep the regular jobs they were already working (because it felt wrong to quit), but the ones who did sign couldn't find work anywhere else, and so this was just a crazy and wacky way to springboard their careers. (By now everybody had changed out of their uniforms back into their regular clothes.)

That night, each of the ones who signed got to sing in a special concert, and each of them sang the exact same song they sang while they were poisoned, with the same genre; the difference is they had the live musicians and Gazelle's dancers to back them up.

Judy, meanwhile, caught up with her family and pastry chef Gideon Grey (the fox that had been rude to Judy in his youth but matured into a productive member of society); the latter met Nick for the first time. "So you thought she wasn't going to be a cop either, did you?" Nick asked.

"I did," said Gideon. "But I made amends; I apologized. It's just like I told her, I had a lot of self-doubt, and it manifested itself in the form of unchecked rage and aggression."

"And look at you know."

"Look at you! You got one of the best towns to patrol!"

"Thanks; this beats being a con artist any day of the week. And yes, I have served my time and paid my taxes for it, and it was Carrots, of all the animals, who arrested."

"Does he call you that?" Gideon asked Judy.

"Always," Judy replied.

The last number of the evening cultimated in a large fireworks display, with the fans watching it also wanting autographs from Gazelle. Some flocked to Judy for her autograph, considering that while she was a police officer, she was almost getting to the point where she'd surpass Gazelle in popularity. Why? She was inspiration to countless millions of people; she didn't give up on her ultimate ambitions (although she had quit her job only to get it back). Nobody prior to her ever pictured a rabbit being a cop of any sort. But she came through; she graduated top of her class. She proved many wrong (including Chief Bogo). She got Nick (then a fast-talking scam artist) to work with her, and he proved more than helpful in much of the missing mammal case.

After the city got back to its state of peace, and Judy and Nick had a day off duty, they spent it in Bunnyborough, where Nick got his first taste of one of Gideon's fantastic pies.

 **THE END**


End file.
